MAIN ARTICLE: Officials sign off on GIANT Magellan Telescope.
Nine institutions have inked a deal for a new 25 meter, optical and infrared, ground based, telescope. More below the fold.
Page 2: Report: NASA rocket program undergoing big changes.
Will President Obama call for a 60 day review of NASA's current Space Shuttle replacement rockets?
Poll Results: Yesterday's poll had a stronger then average turnout, scroll down for the latest in space polling, click subscribe for more space news.
Star Trek: In the News. Leonard Nimoy open to more 'Star Trek'
Yesterday's Comments: "Do I have to stick my hand in the jar to leave you a tip?" - rfall
Today's Poll: ARES I - Love it or Leave it.
THE AGE OF COSMIC DISCOVERY:
When it comes to a couple of items relating to space I generally see solutions in one way. BIG. I believe we need to have the capability to launch large items into space and for that you need a big dumb booster (BDB) and the other is telescopes. Both in space (see "Does SIZE matter?", 'Americans in Space', Jan 26, 2009) and on the ground, I like big telescopes.
When the European Southern Observatory (ESO) organization first proposed building the OWL or Overwhelmingly Large Telescope I was all for it. I mean who could have a problem with a 100 meter mirror? It was just to ambitious of a project and never got off the ground.
Although I believe President Obama has a golden opportunity (see "Obama + NASA + ARES V = New Hubble Space Telescope?", 'Americans in Space', Dec 08, 2008) to build a new Hubble Space Telescope replacement utilizing a new heavy lift launcher that NASA is currently working on, that does mean that this new ground based telescope isn't going to be a fantastic addition.
Nine Institutions Officially Sign Agreement for 25-meter Giant Magellan Telescope
"Pasadena, CA-The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) Corporation is pleased to announce that nine astronomical research organizations from three continents have signed the Founders’ Agreement to construct and operate the 25-meter Giant Magellan Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in the Andes Mountains of Chile. In the United States the participating institutions are the Carnegie Institution for Science, Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, Texas A& M University, the University of Arizona, and the University of Texas at Austin. The two Australian members of the Founders group are the Australian National University and Astronomy Australia Limited. Most recently, the South Korean government has approved participation in the GMT project, with the Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute as the representative of the Korean astronomical community.
GMT Corporation Board Chairperson and Carnegie Observatories Director, Wendy Freedman noted that "the Founders’ Agreement establishes the framework for the construction and operation of the telescope. The Founders group represents an extraordinary team of institutions each of which has made important contributions to the development of the most advanced telescopes and instrumentation over the last 100 years. The GMT continues this remarkable legacy."
Added Charles Alcock, Director of the Center for Astrophysics representing Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution, "We are very pleased to be joining this project, which will allow us to remain at the forefront of astronomical discovery in the 21st century."
With its seven co-mounted 8.4-meter primary segments and adaptive secondary system, the GMT will provide unique capabilities in optical and infrared astronomy. It will open new windows onto the Universe and help answer questions that cannot be answered with existing facilities. The GMT will teach us about the nature of dark matter and dark energy, the origin of the first stars and first galaxies, the mysteries of star and planet formation, galaxy evolution, and black hole growth. The GMT will also play a key role in the detection and imaging of planets around nearby stars."
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EYE IN SKY:
The idea of using segmented mirrors is the same way NASA is building the new James Webb Space Telescope.
(artist impression of the new telescope facility)
As great as the new Magellan will be, it still has to deal with Earth's distorting atmosphere and that is why telescopes located in space give such better views. An optical, segmented 25 meter mirror, in space, would allow exoplanet spotting (see "Of Aliens, exoplanets and the Drake Equation.", 'Americans in Space', Feb 17, 2009) to the Nth degree.
PAGE 2:
WHO'S RUNNING THE BIG SHOW:
The drama is never ending, at NASA, over the last five months. There may be some light at the end of the tunnel though as President Obama will "soon" be picking a new Chief to run the agency.
I watched Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), on CSPAN, this morning talking about how the current President is a huge space fan and that he has talked to President Obama for hours about space issues. He was also saying that the space shuttle retirement date has to be moved from 2010 to 2011.
The big point he made was how America will no longer be able to launch astronauts into space once the Space Shuttle is retired and the Nation will be entirely dependant on the Russians to get to the International Space Station, that we have invested 100 billion dollars to build.
I have said it before and will say it again. As soon as America stops the Space Shuttle for good, and without having domestic commercial launch services, the Russians will jack up the price for the Soyuz.
Report: NASA rocket program undergoing big changes
"Among the plans NASASpaceflight is referring to are reports that have been circulating over the last week that the Obama Administration will soon announce a new 60-day government study to review the various lunar rocket systems, including Constellation, to make sure NASA is on the right path for human exploration.
Word is that the study -- effectively a redo of former NASA administrator Mike Griffin's 2005 "Exploration Systems Architecture Study" -- will be headed by Pete Worden, the director of NASA's Ames Center, though there are reports of pushback from some senior NASA figures against Worden heading the study.
However, the fact that the White House favors a new study is a poke in the eye to Griffin, who just last week not only defended Constellation but said "so what" if it was determined that other rockets were cheaper and better than Constellation's Ares I rocket and Orion capsule.
"I’ve grown impatient with the argument that Orion and Ares I are not perfect, and should be supplanted with other designs," he told the Goddard Memorial Dinner in Washington DC last week. "I don’t agree that there is a better approach for the money, but if there were, so what?
"Any proposed approach would need to be enormously better to justify wiping out four years worth of solid progress. Engineers do not deal with 'perfect.' Your viewgraphs will always be better than my hardware. A fictional space program will always be faster, better, and cheaper than a real space program," he said."
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The current plan is to retire the space shuttle in 2010, there is a congressional hold until April 30th. If the shuttle is not given an extension by then the production lines will be pulled down to make room for constructing the Constellation Constellation systems. They are the Ares I rocket that will launch the new Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV). The Ares V rocket will be for launching the Altair lunar lander.
Many people believe that current EELV's launch vehicles can launch a capsule, they are the Delta IV heavy and the Atlas V heavy. There is also a growing number of NASA insiders who believe that Direct 2.0 is the answer.
Here is a very brief video on the Direct 2.0 option: (42 secs)
Learn more about the nuts and bolts of Direct 2.0 - Direct Launcher
This is the subject of today's poll. This poll ran once before but with all of this about to come to a head I thought I would run it again and compare the results. Should we stay the course or switch horses?
POLL RESULTS:
The poll conducted yesterday: "Dual use Space Based Solar Power - pros and cons.", was about Space Based Solar Power or SBSP. This is about launching solar power generating satellites into Geosyncronus Earth Orbit (GEO), where they convert the sun's rays into electricity. It is converted to microwaves, sent down to a reciever located on the ground and converted back into electricty. Sounds simple on paper doesn't it.
DKOS members, who participated in the poll, were very supportive of solar power in space with 31% choosing "I strongly support space based solar power and tough regulations." and 18% picking "I support space based solar power and tough regulations.". Only 8% were against SBSP and 37% were still neutral on the subject and needed more information.
Leonard Nimoy open to more 'Star Trek'
"LOS ANGELES – Leonard Nimoy says he would be onboard for more "Star Trek."
After a 19-year absence, Nimoy reprises his iconic role as Mr. Spock in director J.J. Abrams' new "Star Trek" prequel opposite Zachary Quinto, who stars as a younger version of the half-Vulcan, half-human science officer.
"Star Trek" studio Paramount Pictures is already preparing a sequel to the highly anticipated sci-fi franchise reboot set to premiere May 8.
"If J.J. Abrams calls me, I answer the phone," Nimoy said during a recent interview. "I don't say 'never' anymore."
Nimoy, 78, chuckled when asked about possibly reuniting on-screen with William Shatner, the original James T. Kirk actor who doesn't appear in the new voyage. Nimoy said Shatner told him "now we're even" in regard to appearing in the "Trek" prequel after Shatner cameoed without Nimoy in 1994's "Star Trek: Generations," which featured the death of Kirk."
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YESTERDAY'S COMMENTS:
"I expect that I would oppose it "Isn't necessarily a weapon," in our world, usually ends up meaning "is going to end up being a weapon." As a space advocate, you should stand strongly against the militarization of space as well, as it impedes your hoped-for program." - Seneca Doane
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"We've passed that point
space has been militarized since we started going, and in fact I've been told, although I don't know for a fact, that side arms were carried into space by Russian cosmonauts (although it was more about fending off wolves when they returned to earth).
Furthermore, all serious high-tech can be used in a military fashion, and I will admit this is definitely true of spaceflight. I will say that, at least for SBSP as an energy source, I am optimisitic that you could design it in a way so that its not practical to turn it into a weapon, but that comes about during the design phase, rather than the theoretical, which is what I am talking about at this point.
As for a "hoped for program" - I don't want a space program - I want a spacefaring society, where we can tap the resources, utilities and products of space to help society, and where the average person has access to space." - Ferris Valyn
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"Moon dust is "a bloody nuisance" The LA Times reports a physicist may have the answer to
Why moon dust is sticky. After studying the problem on-and-off for four decades, an Australian physicist thinks he has figured out why lunar dust "gets into everything. Worse, it's sticky, adhering to spacesuits and posing a potentially serious health hazard to future colonists."
Brian O'Brien, an Australian physicist who worked on the Apollo program in the 1960s, said the sun's ultraviolet and X-ray radiation gives a positive charge to the dust, making it stick to surfaces such as spacesuits.
This doesn't happen on Earth because our atmosphere screens out much of the sun's harmful radiation.
The moon's atmosphere is so thin that the rays easily reach the surface.
Lunar dust is "a bloody nuisance," O'Brien said in a statement." - Magnifico
TODAY'S POLL:
Read other NASA and Space diaries on DKOS.